PCTips Box

Wireless hotspots are changing the way people work. These wireless local area networks (LANs) provide high speed Internet access in public locations as well as at home and require nothing more than a notebook PC with a wireless card. From coffeeshops to restaurants, airports to hotel lobbies, hotspots are ubiquitous. They are the de facto connection method for travelers and remote workers to access the Internet, their e-mail, and even their corporate networks.

Hotspots range from paid services, such as T-Mobile or Boingo, to free connections at your local coffee shop or library. But they all have one thing in common: These are all open networks that are vulnerable to security breaches. And that means it’s up to you to protect the data on your PC. Here are a few tips to make working in public locations more secure. (more…)

If you travel on behalf of your organization, you likely bring along a laptop so you can stay productive while you’re away. And because many airports, hotels, and coffee shops are now equipped with so-called hotspots access points that let you surf the Web using a wireless Internet connection you probably take advantage of these opportunities to check your email, log in to your nonprofit’s intranet, and generally find out what’s going on back at the office.

But while using a public hotspot to surf the Internet can help you get work done from the road, it can also potentially compromise your organization’s privacy. (more…)